January 23, 2009

Fajita Sweet Potatoes

We have a couple rules of thumb when it comes to keeping dinner parties simple -- especially when they occur during the middle of the week.

-- Work ahead. We try to do as much of the cooking ahead of the guests arriving as possible. No one likes to be stuck in the kitchen while friends are having fun in the next room.

-- Have some snacks. Though we love to work ahead, we've also been known on occasion to be delayed in serving dinner due to hiccups in our planning. Be sure to have something for your guests to enjoy while you're putting on the finishing touches. Crostini are always an easy possibility.

-- Make one large entree. Grilling steaks can be nice, and individual fish filets are lovely. But when it comes to feeding a tableful, roasting a whole chicken or a pork tenderloin is so much simpler.

-- No-fuss desserts. When we're having a larger number of guests for dinner, we keep the desserts very simple. A crumble using seasonal fruit is our go-to, whether it be Basil-Blackberry in the spring or more recently delicious Asian pears.

-- Have a cheat-dish.

Which brings us to these sweet potatoes. They are the very definition of a cheat-dish. They're embarrassingly easy to prepare, but they're frequently the most popular thing on the menu.

How easy is this dish? Well, it really only has two ingredients: sweet potatoes and fajita seasoning. (Okay, three ingredients if you count olive oil.)

Zach's mom shared this recipe with us a few years ago. At first, it struck us as a little (ahem) semi-homemade. How good could these really be? And aren't we better than just throwing some prepackaged seasoning on a vegetable?

As it turns out, the answers to those questions, respectively, are a) amazing, and b) absolutely not.

These potatoes are wonderful! The oil and the fajita seasoning combine to give the sweet potatoes a marvelous salty crispy caramelization, while the potatoes themselves stay soft and deliciously sweet inside.

So, make these potatoes and keep the recipe (such as it is) in your repertoire. The next time you need an ultimate cheat-dish to round out a dinner menu, you won't be disappointed.

Obviously, the measurements for this dish depend on how many potatoes you want to prepare. You don't need to go by the measurements above. You'll just need enough oil to coat the potatoes (maybe a half cup of oil if you're using six potatoes?) and enough fajita seasoning so that the potatoes look well-seasoned.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel the potatoes and dice them into half-inch cubes.

Pour enough olive oil over the potatoes so that each cube is coated.

Sprinkle fajita seasoning over the potatoes and toss to coat each cube.

Bake in a single layer until potatoes are fork-tender with a light caramelized crust on the outside, about 35-40 minutes. Season will salt and/or pepper if desired.

Comments

We have a couple rules of thumb when it comes to keeping dinner parties simple -- especially when they occur during the middle of the week.

-- Work ahead. We try to do as much of the cooking ahead of the guests arriving as possible. No one likes to be stuck in the kitchen while friends are having fun in the next room.

-- Have some snacks. Though we love to work ahead, we've also been known on occasion to be delayed in serving dinner due to hiccups in our planning. Be sure to have something for your guests to enjoy while you're putting on the finishing touches. Crostini are always an easy possibility.

-- Make one large entree. Grilling steaks can be nice, and individual fish filets are lovely. But when it comes to feeding a tableful, roasting a whole chicken or a pork tenderloin is so much simpler.

-- No-fuss desserts. When we're having a larger number of guests for dinner, we keep the desserts very simple. A crumble using seasonal fruit is our go-to, whether it be Basil-Blackberry in the spring or more recently delicious Asian pears.

-- Have a cheat-dish.

Which brings us to these sweet potatoes. They are the very definition of a cheat-dish. They're embarrassingly easy to prepare, but they're frequently the most popular thing on the menu.